


"Fall"-ing Right Into Your Arms

by OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Actually everyone's dramatic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Hot Air Balloon Pilot Poe, Hot Air Balloons, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nurse Finn, Poe is Dramatic, apple picking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 16:13:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12461310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway/pseuds/OnceUponAGalaxyFarFarAway
Summary: Poe and Finn meet during a hot air balloon flight, and along with some dramatic behavior and misunderstands, circle around each other.





	"Fall"-ing Right Into Your Arms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MayGlenn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayGlenn/gifts).



> This is for the ever wonderful MayGlenn, who wanted something with some hurt/comfort. I hope you enjoy!

“Alright peanut, not much further…” Finn hummed, grinning to himself as he led a blindfolded Rey to their destination.

“You said that almost an hour ago, Finn!” She replied, voice wavering between amusement and annoyance. “Can’t you just tell me what we’re doing instead of being so secretive?”

“The point of a surprise is for it to be a secret.” Finn countered, rolling his eyes. “Can you just be patient? It really isn’t far now.” 

Rey just huffed, crossing her arms and walking with him. “This better be a good surprise…”

Finn chuckled, walking a ways more before stepping and turning her around. “Alright, we’re here now!” Ignoring her muttered ‘finally’, he undid the blindfold, pocketing the cloth and grinning at her.

She raised a somewhat unamused eyebrow before turning around, face considerably brightening at the sight of the hot air balloon a ways away, and the small group of people clustered around it. “Finn! You didn’t!” Rey turned to him, now grinning too.

Nodding, Finn just about glowed with pride. He was a great gift giver, so he’d been told, and always knew just what to get people. “Happy Birthday, peanut! I couldn’t get you a plane, but hopefully a hot air balloon flight will be enough. I mean, we can see all of the fall colors and everything.”

Rey threw herself at Finn, wrapping him in a tight hug. “You’re the best! How did you even get these? Aren’t rides, like, a bajillion dollars?”

“Ah, you know me, I have connections.” Finn said in a falsely cool manner, popping the collar of his jacket and ignoring the swipe she sent his way. Of course, he didn’t have connections, and she knew that, he just said that so she wouldn’t know how much he had actually spent on a pricey gift. “Come on, peanut, let’s go.”

Slinging an arm around her shoulders, they joined the small group who were gathering as they waited for the pilot. They didn’t have to wait very long, as a man soon came over to them all, grinning. Finn felt the air get knocked out of his lungs. This guy was gorgeous, easily one of the best looking people Finn had ever seen in his life. Everything about him was amazing, the sharp outline of his jaw, to the way a few curls would dip down over his forehead, making him look like Superman. 

But the best thing, even beyond his superhero-esque features, was the way the lines around his face crinkled when he smiled. Pronounced laugh lines and dimples - God help him, dimples - and crows feet that stuck out as his smile overtook his whole face. It wasn't a short, small, or stiff smile, it was big and real, his slightly crooked teeth making it all the more endearing. That was the best part, really. This man loved his job, truly and honestly. There was no need for false smiles, he was honestly happy. 

And he was looking right at him. Finn blinked, looking back at him. “Huh?”

The other smiled still, tilting his head curiously. “You said 'wow' when I was talking about all the stuff we might be seeing during the flight. I was wondering if you had an interest in that kind of stuff.”

Finn felt his face heat and Rey snickered softly. “Oh. Uh, yeah, I'm interested in that sort of stuff. I think it's cool.”

The man grinned, nodding a little. “Well, hopefully you'll be satisfied.”

Finn swallowed as the man started to talk about safety, blinking when Rey leaned up to murmur in his ear, “His name is Poe. Poe Dameron. You would have heard that if you hadn’t been daydreaming about his face.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled all the same, nudging her with his elbow in silent thanks. The safety talk concluded and everyone began to climb into the gondola, Finn and Rey ending up near the back, unfortunately away from the pilot - Poe - and his handsome face. The balloon slowly lifted, Finn and Rey looking out at the landscape. The fire that was keeping the balloon up was nice, but it didn’t counter the cold morning air or the altitude, so Finn and Rey huddled together to share warmth, admiring the sweeping fall colors. 

The flight was just a little more than an hour, but it seemed to come to an end quickly, and soon they were descending, landing in a small field. The crew that had been there when they had taken off arrived shortly after, having been following them by car, and helped tie down the balloon as the group climbed out of the basket. They watched as the fire was shut off and the balloon slowly began to lose shape and the crew began to pack it up. When that was all said and done, Poe went into the car, grabbing a couple of bottles of champagne and popping them open, garnering cheers from the others. Red solo cups were passed all around, everyone getting a small glass of bubbly for the drive back. 

Finn and Rey had ended up in one of the other crew member’s car, smushed in with a couple and making vague, impersonal small talk, talking about how the flight was and whether or not it was their first one. It wasn’t very interesting, so Finn entertained himself with thoughts of Poe. The car he was in was probably having loads of fun, chatting singing along to the radio. Why, if Finn was there, he’d show off his amazing singing skills, and completely amaze Poe, and then he would get asked out, and then before he knew it, they would be married, and Poe would be giving him that big old smile of his. Then they would adopt 2.5 kids and a dog, and grow old together…

Finn shook himself out of his rapidly spiraling fantasy and focused back on the present, that is, the gift that was Poe’s face, losing himself in his daydream until they arrived back at where they had taken off from. Finn tried to seek out Poe, but the other man was lost in the small crowd, catching a glimpse of him only once, laughing at something someone had said, as he and Rey walked back to their car. For a moment, Finn felt the desire to go over to him, ask for his number, ask if he was interested in a coffee sometime, maybe a movie too. 

But… He looked like he was having a good time. He was laughing and smiling with his friends, and Finn didn’t want to interrupt. More so, he didn’t want to ask the man out in front of all his friends, with the whole group watching. Back in freshman year of high school, he hadn’t had the common sense about this. He had once asked out a girl right in front of all of her friends, who had all broken into cackling laughs as she turned him down. Finn remembered how his cheeks had burned and how his eyes stung with shame. Another girl, the other new kid, who always seemed to be in either the gym, exercising, or in the art room, shaping outlandish sculptures, had come to his defense, giving a thorough verbal lashing to the girls before asking Finn to the dance herself, an invitation Finn had been too embarrassed to refuse. Later, she had admitted that she was gay, and that she had asked him so that he wouldn’t be so humiliated, which, despite Finn’s aversion to pity, was a relief. A friendship had bloomed out of that, a strong one, that had lasted for years and one that continued to thrive. Finn would always be remarkably grateful to Rey for that rescue, even when she held it above his head to get him to help the laundry. 

Just the memory of the event was enough to spike his anxiety and so he turned away, deciding he didn’t want to end up reliving it, walking with Rey, who seemed to notice something was up, wrapping an arm around his waist but saying nothing, much to Finn’s relief. 

They walked back to the car, Finn looking over as they climbed inside. “You interested in getting brunch before heading home?”

“Brunch?” Rey snorted softly, “Isn’t brunch a little pretentious?”

“Maybe,” Finn shrugged, starting up the car. “But they are serving that pumpkin french toast you love so much.”

Rey was quiet for a moment before nodding. “Alright, brunch it is!” Finn snorted, pulling out of the parking space, as she started to talk about the flight.

* * *

 

Poe burst into the apartment with a flourish, tossing aside his keys and kicking off his shoes before promptly throwing himself onto the couch, feet dangling over the armrest. 

Behind him, Jess came in, rolling her eyes and closing the door behind her. “You’re being so dramatic, Poe.”

Poe let out a muffled grunt, turning his head a little so he could speak. “Did you not see him, Jess?!”

“Yes Poe, I saw him. He was very handsome.” She said, patting Poe’s head. “But don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic?”

“No.” Poe said bluntly, looking at her. “You didn’t see him like I saw him. He was such a good guy, and so handsome, and so good to his girlfriend…”

“Wait, girlfriend?” Jess asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah… The woman he was with? The one who he was smiling at, and putting his arm around, and laughing with, and chattering with, and unnnnnh!” he pushed his face back into the pillow. “I want someone who’ll love me like that guy loves her… And who is also as handsome as he is…”

Jess smiled sympathetically, sitting on the edge of the couch squeezing his shoulder. “You’ll get that someday. The fact that you haven’t yet is almost unbelievable.”

“Jess… I’m past thirty, I’m approaching mid-life crisis time, and I’m still single!” 

Rolling her eyes again, Jess flicked his temple, ignoring his sound of protest. “Oh please. You’re going to find some cute guy, and you’ll get married and everything.”

“All the cute guys my age are either taken or straight!” Poe exclaimed, voice growing in despair.

“Ah yes, I forgot, you’re the only good looking 32 year old gay guy on the planet.” she said dryly, snorting when Poe gave a disgruntled sigh. “You’ll find your guy, Poe, I know it. It’ll be some spontaneous event that you won’t see coming, I bet. He’ll fall into your arms or something. A perfect dramatic meeting for your dramatic ass.”

For a moment Poe was quiet before he looked up, offering Jess a small smile “Thanks Testor. You’re the best.” 

Jess grinned, getting up from the edge of the couch. “Don’t go off thinking too highly of me now. How about we watch a movie, maybe one of those stupid horror movies? Cabin in the Woods?”

Poe groaned, laughing softly and turning so he was laying on his back. “That movie is the worst! Let’s put it on.” 

“Alright, well, you gotta scoot over, then, so I can sit.” When Poe didn’t, she raised a challenging eyebrow. “I’ll sit on you, you know.”

“You wouldn’t… You’re bluffin-- ACK!” the breath was knocked out of him as Jess sat right on his stomach and he squirmed weakly. “Alright, alright, you got me, I’ll move, I’ll move.”

With a smug, triumphant smile, Jess stood back up, going to make a bowl of popcorn while Poe sat up, grumbling and setting up the movie. When she returned, she held out the bowl, offering an innocent smile. “Peace offering? I’ll let you have more than half?”

Poe pursed his lips for a few moments before grinning and taking it. “Fair enough.” He started the movie as Jess settled in beside him, humming. It was a welcome escape from his thoughts, and Poe was soon laughing at the ridiculous movie 

A week later, Poe and Jess were walking through Trader Joe’s, doing their grocery shopping. Well, Jess was shopping, Poe was alternating between swiping left and right on Tinder and convincing Jess to let him add stuff they definitely didn’t need to their cart. Already they had grabbed two pumpkins, a pie, two boxes of cookies, and a wedge of nice cheese, and Jess was starting to tune out all of Poe’s requests. 

When she heard yet another gasp from the man, she rolled her eyes and turned. “Poe, whatever it is, we aren’t--” she stopped when she saw that he wasn’t looking longingly at some overpriced sweet, and instead looking at his phone with a stricken expression. “Poe? What’s wrong? Did someone send you a gross picture or something?”

“No!” Poe exclaimed, clearly shocked. “I… Look!” He shoved his phone in her face and she was startled when she recognized the man from the flight. “It’s his Tinder profile. His name is Finn. But… why on Earth is he on Tinder?! What about his girlfriend?!” he had started pacing, distressed. “Did they break up? Oh my god, what if he’s cheating on her! Oh no! He’s cheating on her, and she doesn’t even know! He--” 

Jess grabbed his shoulders. “Poe. Calm down. They probably just broke up or something.”

“But they were so happy! And it’s only been a week!” Poe whined.

Jess didn’t know what to do, never having seen Poe so unhappy about something he had no standing in. “Well, maybe they moved on quickly? Poe, it’s okay…”

“No, Jess, it’s not!” He quieted down a little when someone looked over, but continued. “I was just talking about how I wanted a relationship like that, and now it’s all fallen apart!”

“Poe!” He fell silent at her sharp tone. “You don’t need to put so much on strangers like this! They don’t represent you, or your love life! And besides, you’re jumping to conclusions, you don’t even know the situation. Maybe it’s an open relationship. Maybe they aren’t even together, maybe they’re just friends. But you have to calm down, okay? I know being single can be kind of sucky, but if you obsessed over every relationship, you’d drive yourself nuts!”

Poe nodded a little, looking a little dejected still. “Yeah… You’re right, I know you are.” 

“Why have you been so sad lately?” she asked, tilting her head. “You aren’t usually so bothered by being single, but you’ve been so focused on it lately.”

Shrugging, Poe sighed. “I don’t know… I think… It just bugs me around the holidays. Most of the time it’s fine, but holidays…” he huffed. “It’s all couples giving gifts at Christmas and chocolates at Valentines, and couples costumes at Halloween, and I have no one to do a couples costume with. And it’s not like I’ll find someone in the two weeks before Halloween. I don’t know. It makes everything all the more obvious.”

“Aw, Poe…” she kissed his cheek. “It’s okay. I know a couple of guys, I can try to set you up, if you want. Maybe something will work out?”

That did get a little smile out of him, and he nodded. “Alright. Why not, we can try.”

She smacked his back. “That’s the spirit! I’ll set something up for you, okay?”

Poe kissed her cheek. “You’re great, have I told you that?”

“Too many times, I’m starting to develop an ego.” She teased, rolling her eyes when Poe’s eyes lingered on a cake that she was probably going to have to buy. 

Well, at least he was feeling better.

* * *

 

“Please tell me you aren’t looking that Poe guy up  _ again _ ?” When Finn gave a little non-committal grunt, she groaned. “Finn! Just send him a friend request!”

He looked up from the laptop and at her, scandalized. “You can’t be serious! Why would I do something like that? I’m not a masochist!”

“No? Then why are you staring at his profile picture like that without doing anything about it? That’s some real masochistic shit!” Finn just huffed, crossing his arms. “Finn, come on, stop torturing yourself, send him a friend request! What’s the worst that can happen?” 

“He turns it down then tells all of his friends and they all laugh at me!” Finn said, shutting the computer screen.

Rey frowned for a moment. “What? Finn… That only happened once in high school!”

“You don’t know that! What if every time I’ve asked someone out, they’ve been secretly laughing behind my back!” Finn said, frowning.

“Finn… That’s not true… Why were you thinking something like that?” She asked, sitting down next to him.

“I just… I wanted to ask him out, but he was with all his friends, and then I remembered that day, and ugh!” he rested his head on the table. “And he’s so handsome, he’s probably super popular like that.”

“Oh my goodness, Finn.” Rey sighed, shaking her head. “You totally psyched yourself out about this whole thing.”

“Yeah, but he’s so good looking…” he sighed again before sitting up. “C’mon, let’s get going. Maybe I’ll meet a really handsome guy out picking apples.”

Rey chuckled, helping him up. “Now that’s the spirit.”

They set out to the orchard, buying a couple of baskets for them both before finding a full tree, beginning to pluck apples from the tree happily. Finn hadn’t expected much, he really didn’t understand the hype, but it was nice. The air was crisp and cool, quiet enough for him and Rey to talk easily without having to shout, but with enough noise for the silence to not be overwhelming. 

While there were no hot guys to be found as of yet, Finn was having fun. He enjoyed spending time with his friend like this, they rarely got to. Rey was busy with graduate school, and Finn had just started work as a nurse, so it was almost impossible for them to have any fun, for them to be able to have any fun. 

But this was fun, the fun they both needed, a distraction from work and from singleness and from pure boredom.

Finn caught a glimpse of a large, shiny red apple, just out of reach. He leaned forward on the ladder, reaching out for it, grabbing onto another branch for stability as he did. He curled his fingers around it, and he was just ready to pull it free when he suddenly tumbled from the ladder with a shout.

* * *

 

Poe was miserable. He and his date had decided to go apple picking, since it was a fun fall activity, but the other man seemed so loathe to it that Poe was having no fun whatsoever.

The other man had been huffing all throughout the car ride, and when the time came to buy baskets, he had let out an extraordinarily loud sigh, and Poe lost his patience. 

“Look, you clearly don't want to be here, so why don't you just go home?” When he tried to say that he wasn't miserable, Poe only grew more frustrated. “Just go, okay! Just go. You're making me miserable, and this is supposed to be fun.” The other needed little convincing after that, happy to hurry off.

Poe had called Jess after that, complaining about her choice in date unhappily. She apologized profusely and had promised to chew out the man. After a few moments, she had managed to convince him to stay and make the best of the afternoon, so he went off, stomping down the orchard, a steep contrast from those who were walking and laughing with their friends and families, bushels of apples under their arms. 

The atmosphere was admittedly difficult to ignore, and his annoyance was soon chipped away to a slight bitterness but nothing more. He was even smiling after a certain point. Occasionally he would stop to pick a couple of apples, although he never stopped.

Eventually he decided he would stop wandering around in self pity and find a proper tree to get some apples. So he found a tree, walking over to it, humming. He was almost there when something, someone came crashing down on top of him, knocking him to the ground with a heavy “humph!”

Pain shot through his arm, and he gasped out loud, his eyes blinking open and he looked at whoever had just crushed him. If the breath hadn't been knocked out of him before, it certainly was now. It was him. Finn. Laying on top of him, looking absolutely shocked. 

“Oh!” the other said, sitting up, promptly realizing he was straddling Poe, and then climbing off, shifting to his side. “Oh my God! Are you okay?”

“Um…” Poe was tongue tied, and he needed multiple moments to get himself together, Finn all the while gazing at him in concern. There was a line between his brows, a little furrow that Poe wanted to smooth over with his thumb. “Yeah, I'm okay.” He tried to sit up, gasping. “Oh, nope, not okay, in pain, not okay.”

“Let me feel…” Finn murmured, feeling the arm carefully, working gently when Poe winced. “There's a sprain, I think you should go to the hospital.” 

“How can you tell?” Poe asked, sure it was broken.

I'm a nurse,” the other said, distressed, “I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean to fall, there was just…”

“It's okay, it's okay.. At least it isn't broken.” He offered softly, smiling.

“Finn? Are you okay?” A woman's voice interprets and Poe looked over to see Finn's girlfriend and he frowned suddenly. So they were still together. Before he could jump to conclusions, Jess's words filtered into his mind.

“Who… who are you?” He asked, frowning still. 

Tilting her head, the woman replied. “I'm Rey, from the hot air balloon ride. And you're Poe, the pilot.”

Poe grumbled, waving a hand. “I know I know, I didn't hit my head, I know who I am. But who are you to Finn?”

“This is a weird time to ask a question like that,” Finn hummed before blinking. “You know my name?”

“Yeah, I saw your Tinder.” Poe replied.

“And you didn't swipe right?” Finn asked before hurriedly adding, “Not to presume, I mean.”

“Well I though the two of you were together!” Poe exclaimed, looking between them. 

Rey blinked. “What? Me? And Finn? No, no, not at all. We're friends. Nothing else. I don't like him that way.”

“I don't like her that way either.” Finn promised, looking equally surprised.

“Oh.” Poe said, blinking a little. “Hm. Well, that's a relief.”

“Yeah?” Finn asked, looking amused. 

“Yeah.” he frowned. “Y'know, I'm not feeling so hot… A l'il lightheaded, actually.” 

Finn grimaced, moving to lift him up. “Shit, sorry. We need to get you to a hospital, it's a little too much excitement. Rey, can you get the apples?”

She nodded, grabbing one of the wagons that were available and putting the bushels in before hurrying after the pair. 

The trio climbed into the car, and Finn quickly set off for the hospital.

* * *

Finn waited in the waiting room with Rey, wallowing in guilt while simultaneously euphoric with his dumb luck. Out of everyone he could have ran into, it was Poe. And out of everyone he could have crushed and sprained their wrist, it had been Poe.

“Oh Rey,” he moaned pityingly. “He probably hates me now!”

“Why would he hate you?” At the  _ are-you-kidding-me _ look Finn gave her, she nodded. “Okay. Sure, you fell on top of him. And sure, you sprained his wrist. And sure, now he's in the hospital.” Finn let out an anguished whine. “Alright, sorry. Not helpful. But come on, he still said that he was relieved that we weren't together. That means he's interested, right?”

Finn just grumbled. 

“Oh, don't give me that. You're so dramatic. He doesn't hate you, okay? I promise.” Before she could convince him further, a nurse approached.

“Well, he's all set now, if you'd like to go see him. He's on pain medication right now, but it's nothing heavy. You'll be able to talk to one another just fine."

Rey thanked her before turning to Finn. “Well, since you're so convinced that he hates you, why don't you go ask him and prove me wrong?”

Finn stood. “Alright, I will.” Determined to prove Rey was wrong, he walked to the room, pausing when he walked in and saw Poe in the bed. Guilt overwhelmed him and he swallowed, walking over. “Um, hey.”

Poe looked over to smile at him. “Hey. Sit down,” he gestured at one of the bedside chairs.

Finn did, wringing his hands. “I'm so sorry!” he said suddenly. “I didn't mean to fall on you and I really didn't mean to put you in the hospital, it was an accident. I'm so so so so sorry! I'll help cover the bill if you need me too, but I'm just so sorry!” When he stopped talking, he realized Poe was smiling. “What?”

“You know, maybe a couple of weeks ago, my friend told me that a cute guy would probably fall right into my arms.” he said, grinning. “Now, I may not have been as ready to catch said cute guy as I thought I had been, but I don't think a cute guy falling into my arms is a coincidence, sprain or no.”

Finn raised his eyebrows, eyes wide. “You think I'm cute?” Great, so Rey was right. Poe didn't hate him. That was, of course, a massive relief, although Finn wasn't looking forward to Rey being all smug about it. 

Poe nodded, his smile, that damn smile that Finn loved so much, growing. “Yeah. I do.”

Swallowing, Finn smiled as well, unable to believe his luck. All that, all the misunderstandings and drama and falling, and here he was, Superman himself calling him cute. “I think you're cute too,” he replied, smiling softly. 

“Oh, good.” Poes smile looked like it was taking over his entire face and rimm wondered briefly if that hurt. “So… are you interested in going on a date… with me?” He asked, smiling when Finn nodded. “Any ideas?”

“Well,” the other hummed. “We have always interacted during some classic fall activities. Hot air balloons, apple picking. We should follow the theme we have going.”

Poe nodded his agreement. “Oh! I know!” At Finn's questioning look, he grinned. “What do you think about pumpkin carving?”

Finn beamed. “I think that's a  _ sharp _ idea. Get it? Because we carve pumpkins with knives and knives are sharp?”

Poe groaned and booed teasingly. “Ugh, puns. I've got a bad feeling about this.”

Finn just laughed, shaking his head fondly. No matter what the other said, he had a wonderful feeling about this.


End file.
